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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Pumpkin Fudge

i've still got one medium sized pumpkin in the kitchen from this fall's harvest. after awhile pondering what i might make with it, i recalled a particular recipe for Parsnip Vanilla Fudge from the book: Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache, by Harry Eastwood. the book specializes in cakes made with vegetables and low fat, usually wheat free recipes. and guess what? the recipes work! which is great for gluten free cooking enthusiasts, especially when every recipe uses veg in some way. for those of you used to gluten free baking: you may know some recipes have a tendency to be 'bricklike' and dry. but the clever addition of grated vegetables in Harry's recipes yield moist and light baking.

you don't need much pumpkin for this recipe, so count on making a nice pumpkin curry afterwards.

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the authour has a whimsical way of writing recipes, refering to cakes and their individual personalities like they are a part of a story book. which can hit hard on the annoying scale, but if you can over look this then, you are well on your way to exciting baking. the book is well worth the shelf space.

i made the parsnip vanilla fudge from this book once and decided to give it a go with pumpkin and a mix of spices: black pepper, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla and cloves. the end product is buttery with a slightly spicy warmth and a smooth pumpkin background. this recipe can take awhile to make, so set aside some time, a pot of tea and a good talk radio program to get you through it. count on 45 minutes to 1 hour to make your fudge.

NOTE:
you need to use a digital themometer for this recipe. im not sure how people make fudge without one, as it requires cooking to the 'soft ball' stage in candy making which is 119C (238F) degrees. i do remember being shown a method of testing cooked sugar in pastry school, but im pretty sure it meant handling hot caramel with cold water and bare hands. not really recomended! so unless you are a fuge pro and can eye-ball the process, use a themometer.